FARMERS are being offered a free guide to carbon and carbon footprinting in a string of webinars coming out this week.

Starting today (Monday March 1) AHDB is outlining the fundamentals of carbon within UK agriculture, based on work done on 40 farms across its Farm Excellence platform.

Designed for all crop and livestock systems, this week of webinars will be delivered by AHDB’s in-house experts, external experts from ADAS, Promar International and Rothamsted Research, and feature industry case studies.

The five webinars cover:

• Understanding low carbon farming;

• Understanding fertilisers, carbon emissions and what farmers can do to reduce them;

• Carbon Footprinting: save the planet and make money;

• The ins and outs of soil carbon – measurement and management;

• Supply chain requirements – building a narrative.

As the UK Government focuses on reducing emissions and achieving Net Zero by 2050, carbon will soon have a clear financial value, said AHDB’s head of environment Dr Jonathan Foot.

“While carbon has always cost farmers money – the most expensive activities tend to make up the bulk of a farm’s carbon footprint such as animal feed, fertiliser, fuel and energy – it is clear carbon will soon cost farmers in new ways.

“Whether that’s in the form of environmentally focused payments schemes such as ELMS in England or retailer pressure, farmers will be rewarded for reducing their emissions," he predicted.

“Therefore, understanding the opportunities each farm has in cutting emissions and subsequently costs, is the first step to more sustainable farming and achieving Net Zero. The aim of the week is to deliver a ‘carbon 101’ to our levy payers to give them the knowledge and tools to begin their journey.”

More information on the different webinars and registration can be found at ahdb.org.uk/carbon-week